Friend of Mine
by Ophelia193
Summary: A short romy series about the current state of their relationship inspired by the Liz Phair song "Friend of Mine."
1. Chapter 1

**All rights belong to Marvel and Liz Phair  
**

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"I wasted your time, didn't I?" Rogue asked, looking at her cup of coffee, but clearly addressing the Cajun sitting across from her.

"What do ya mean, _cher_?" Gambit replied, equal measures of annoyance and confusion in his voice.

"All that time together, on and off, year after year – and when I finally got my powers and my mind under control, I throw in the towel."

"Sums it up," he bitterly replied.

"Any that's the reason why we aren't even friends anymore." A slight quiver in her voice clued him in to her distress.

"We're still friends. Look here, we're talking over morning coffee. Dat's what friends do, right?" He plastered on a charming grin.

She finally looked up from her drink. "I miss you. So badly."

All pretense fell from his face. "I miss you, too." He looked into the eyes that he had loved for so long. He still loved them, still loved her, but he wondered if she still felt the same. If somewhere along the line she stopped loving him, even being his friend. "When did you let go of me?" He asked softly.

"I didn't. Couldn't. Just pretended I did because I couldn't fight anymore. It was killing me."

He gave a bitter bark of laughter. "We sure could fight, couldn't we?" His eyes became distant, recounting all the times they had broken one another's heart. "So where do we go from here?" he finally asked.

She shrugged. "I'm still waiting for you to answer my first question."

"'Bout wasting my time?"

"Yeah. Wasted a whole lot of it, and I know you aren't a patient man."

"An' still I waited years fo' you."

"And I waited years for you."

He paused. "You didn't waste my time, Anna. Wouldn't take those years back for anything. Now answer my question."

"Where do we go from here? Don't know. I know that I don't have the heart to try one more false start in life."

He gave her a gentle smile and put his hand on her gloved hand. "Have dinner with me, _chere_. As friends, of course." She smiled and nodded. He smirked and continued, "and if anything more happens, so be it."

She rolled her eyes, "Keep dreamin', Gumbo."

He smiled lecherously at her, "Oh, I will, I will."


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, new plan. I think I'll make this into a short series with short chapters. Not exactly sure where this is going – just like Remy and Anna.**

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Remy whispered something to the cab driver before he sat back in his seat next to Rogue.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Ya'll don't want me to know where we're goin'?"

"Non."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"An' maybe you should, Obi Wan."

She rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't help the slight smile on her face at the Star Wars reference. He always had been a closet geek.

"So no motorcycle, you ain't telling me where we're going, and all I have to go on is when you told me to dress 'nice.'"

"You don't trust ol' Remy after all these years?" He faked an injured look.

"I trust you with my life. I just don't trust you with my night."

He laughed, "You know me too well."

"And yet I'm still here," she said seriously.

He turned to look at her in the eye. "An' so you are," he replied with mild shock. There was a reason he kept people at arm's distance– he didn't want them to see him for what he was. She did, and she was still there. "Thanks for dat, chere."

"Couldn't stay away from you if I tried."

"Have you tried?"

"Several times, as you darn well know."

"Seems like I'm always de one coming back to you, and you're always de one running away."

"Well I was a run-away. Old habits die hard. You wouldn't know anything about that, now would you, thief?"

He left the question conspicuously unanswered, smiling at her instead, then turned his head to watch the world pass by.

"Yeah," Rogue finally said, softly. "I always did run." Remy turned back to see a longing look in her eyes. "But you always followed."

"How could I not?"

"Easily."

"An' you could have easily hid away."

"I always wanted to hide from myself more than hide from you."

"We got dat in common," Remy said bitterly. Then a thought and a smile struck him, "Just like how neither of us lets the other get away with it . . . at least not for too long."

She shrugged, then smiled back at him, "It felt too long this time."


	3. Chapter 3

**Friend of Mine Chapter 3**

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"What part of 'as friends' did you not get through that thick skull of yours, Swamp Rat?"

"But _chere_, you like dis place."

Rogue gave an unladylike snort as Remy held open the restaurant door for her.

"Oh, so that's your entire reason for choosing this particular place to have dinner together?" She asked rhetorically. Remy innocently nodded. "In a pig's eye!" She yelled back.

Remy turned to the maitre d', "Two, under LeBeau."

Rogue muttered under her breath while they were shown to their table. Remy couldn't keep the smirk off his face. Rogue immediately buried her face behind the menu, quietly fuming while deciding on her meal choice.

"Know what ya want?" Remy asked.

"For you ta burn in Hell," she mumbled.

He chuckled, "Don't think fire and brimstone is on the menu. 'Though their Andouille is pretty hot."

She growled, and was about to shoot back with another insult when their server came to take their order. After he left, she sat back and crossed her arms petulantly.

"Why did ya take me here? Just when we were beginning ta get along again, you have to pull a stunt like this."

"I got good memories of this place."

"So do I, that's the problem." She frowned, "I think that was the first time I'd ever seen you with your guard down."

"Same goes for you. An' you looked _bon _in dat green dress." He smiled lecherously at her. She had to laugh.

"What was that, the third or fourth attempt at a first date?"

"Think it was the third. Third time's a charm, after all. An' no one even attacked us. Figured that's why this was a good place."

"I guess there ain't too many places we've been where we haven't been attacked."

"An' even fewer dates we've been on where we haven't."

She smiled, "Ya sure know how ta treat a lady right, Remy LeBeau."

"Do what I can, _chere_."

The smile faded from her face. "I'm sure you've had plenty of practice since we broke up."

"Some," he said cryptically.

"How many women **have **you been with since we split?"

"Dere is no way Remy be answering that."

"That many, huh?"

"You going to believe de worst, no matter what I say."

"The worst would be that you say only one."

He wrinkled his brown in confusion. "Why you say dat?"

She looked somber, "Because that would mean you've fallen for them."

He gave her a sad smile. "I haven't gone and fallen in love wit' anyone, _chere._"

She let out a barely audible sigh of relief while scoping out the restaurant. She hoped he hadn't noticed, but he had. "What about you?"

She whipped her head around at him and looked at him incredulously. "Ya ain't serious. You know that I'm not seeing anyone."

"_Non_. Not anymore."

Her emerald eyes opened further. "Magnus? Is that who you're talkin' about?"

"Unless there be some other self-proclaimed savior of mutant-kind dat you been with." Remy responded dryly.

Rogue rolled her eyes, "It's been over between us for a while. You know that. I actually had the sense to realize that that relationship wasn't good for me."

"This before or after he turned back to his old ways?" Gambit spat out, unable to disguise his disgust for Magneto.

"Before." She responded firmly.

He exhaled slowly, trying to reign in the animosity that always arose when Magneto was mentioned. He was happy that the waiter took that moment to return with their food.

"Sorry, Anna. Didn' mean that. What I meant was . . ." He looked at her curious expression, and forced the question that had been on his mind for months. Years, if truth be told. "Did you love him?"

Mouth agape, a piece of boudin hanging on her fork, she stared at him is shock. "I . . . I . . . wha?" She sputtered.

"Did you love him?"

Her eyes became unfocused, awash in her own mind. Remy took the silence as a positive sign, that she actually was willing to tell him. Getting Rogue to be honest about her feelings was never easy, and he viewed it as being proof of their bond that she was willing to be open with him.

"I don't know," she finally said. "Magnus and I . . . we go way back. Even longer than you an' I do. He was the first one to ever make me want a real, adult relationship. To make me think I was capable and worthy of it. I know it didn't – couldn't – work out, but he meant something to me. Always will."

It wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, his downcast eyes were testament to that. Yet he knew she couldn't help her feelings, and he understood her emotions intimately.

"Just like you and Belle," she whispered before taking another bite of her food.

"Just like me an' Belle," he agreed.

They finished their meal in introspective silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Rogue and Gambit engaged in small talk as they waited for dessert. Most of it revolved around the many teenage dramas unfolding at the Jean Grey School. But when a large slice of chocolate pecan bread pudding was placed before her, Rogue's focus became the decimation of the helpless treat. Remy repressed a laugh as she wolfed down her sugary confection with the speed normally reserved for competitive hot-dog eating contests.

"Want to take a walk ta burn off that dessert?" Rogue asked, after polishing off every morsel of the bread pudding.

"Thought you were sick of me already, _chere_."

She rolled her eyes. "Not everything is about you, Cajun. I seriously do have to work off that chocolaty goodness. Not everyone burns through calories like you burn through playing cards."

He gave her a shit-eating grin, knowing that it was true. Due to his mutation, his metabolism was sky high. She had often complained about it in the past.

They left the restaurant and walked down the halogen-drenched streets in silence for some blocks. An affable silence descended on them, a benign quiet shared between two souls who knew each other intimately.

Eventually, Remy spoke. "We alright, _chere_?"

Rogue continued walking, eyes forward. "As much as we ever were."

He snorted, "Dat bad, huh?"

She let out a half-hearted laugh. "You'd think we'd have learned something 'bout makin' a relationship work by now. For Pete's sake, we're teachers now, we should know **somethin**'."

Remy gave a low grown. "Don't remind me, I still got papers ta grade."

"That bad, huh?" She repeated his question with a mischievous look in her eye.

"You ever read one of Quire's essays? De boy is certifiable."

She chuckled. "Yeah, but nowhere as confusing as Ruthie's writing. I had to read her writing like two dozen times before I could rearrange it inta something meaningful. Having a non-linear train of thought don't lend itself to good persuasive writing."

Remy stopped walking. " Wait . . ." he said in a confused tone. Rogue stopped a step ahead of him and turned to him. "How de Hell does she even write? She ain't got no eyes."

Rogue smiled at Remy's dumfounded expression. "It's called a Braille typewriter, sugar. Irene had one when I was growin' up, and she taught me to use it. I gave it to Ruth and taught her to use it when she came to the school."

He knew what Destiny meant to Rogue, and how difficult giving away any of her foster-mother's possessions was for Rogue. Remy was struck by a thought that couldn't help but tumble from his lips. "Dat's wonderful of you. Sometimes I forget dat under all dat River Rat sass, ya got de heart of an angel."

Rolling her eyes and scoffing, just as he knew she would, she retorted with a cynical "An' you are still the smooth-tongued devil who—"

He cut her off by taking one of her hands in both of his. She looked down at their intertwined hands; his were bare, but hers were gloved. Not that they had to be anymore. But they were still covered, still protected, still untouchable.

She suddenly wished to tear her gloves off.

Remy spoke, jolting her from her thoughts. "Wish you could see yourself de way I see you."

With unaccustomed trepidation, she whispered, "Even if I absorbed ya, I don't that I'd be able to see what you see in me." Her eyes began to water, but she blinked the tears away.

Remy slowly moved his hand to cradle her cheek. The fact that she didn't move away or flinch filled him with a contended joy that he had long missed.

Emotion in her throat, she confessed, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that for us, it's been so hard to get it right."

Nodding, but never breaking eye contact, he tenderly responded, "Me too, Anna. It seems like the moment I catch up, the further you fly."

"What if," she said with a shaky voice, "this time, I don't fly away? Maybe you can help me with that."

Desperately wanting to kiss her, but at the same time not wanting to jinx anything, he told her, "You my best friend. I'm not letting go again."

"Good. 'Cause I don't want to go. If nothin' else, Remy, you'll always be a friend of mine."

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**Ok guys, I think I'm done with this one. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, especially **_**couplest**_**, who had some very insightful comments.**


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